Jaskamal Bains
Mughla Bano’s years-old desire of applying Mehendi to her eldest son’s hands on his engagement went unfulfilled this Wednesday as her 27-year-old son Mohammed Yaseen Rather got engaged, within the premises of the jail he’s been detained at, in the presence of a couple of male members from the family.
For the past three decades, given the onset of armed conflict in the valley of Kashmir, the processions carried out during the month of Muharram by the Shia community to pay tributes to the martyrs of Karbala, remain banned. However in the month of Muharram, last year i.e., 2021, in a rather surprising turn of events, the Jammu Kashmir administration lifted the three-decade-old ban on the procession only to impose a ban on it again, in several areas of Srinagar city.
The ban on Muharram remains in place every year, although Shia mourners would carry out the processions amid restrictions often inviting assault from the Police.
In a similar fashion, last year on the 8th day of Muharram (August 17, 2021), wailing and beating their chests, the mourners recited Marsia in praise of Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS) who was martyred in the battle of Karbala 1400 years ago with 72 comrades for the victory of good over evil and to disseminate the true message of Islam across the world.
As the mourners carried out the procession last year, amid restrictions, clashes were reported between Shia mourners and security forces in several areas of Srinagar. Journalists who were covering the Muharram processions at Jehangir Chowk, Srinagar, were assaulted by the police. As the police lathi-charged them, the equipments belonging to these journalists also got damaged. Meanwhile, the police arrested several Shia mourners as they were marching towards the Lal Chowk. However, the arrested mourners were released the same evening.
Seven months later, on March 07, some of the mourners from Srinagar’s Gund Hassi Bhat receive a call from the local police station asking them to present themselves. And so they do, only to be detained at the police station on the very evening they showed up, and to be booked under the Unlawful Activity Prevention Act (UAPA) for allegedly raising ‘anti-national’ slogans during the procession. The families of these mourners await their kin, to return from police custody, to this date.
A 15-minute engagement ceremony in the Jail
Last week, four more Shia mourners were detained by the police from the same area of Srinagar city, taking the toll to eight.
Yaseen Rather (27) is one among the eight Shia mourners who’ve been booked by the Jammu Kashmir police for raising ‘anti-national’ slogans in the procession carried out on the eighth day of Muharram. Yaseen, who runs a local ‘Dhaba,’ was supposed to get engaged on March 30, but a couple weeks before his engagement, on March 08, he was arrested and booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Because he is the eldest among the five siblings, his engagement was a special affair for the whole family. But since Yaseen languishes in jail and the jail authorities refused to release him, Yaseen got engaged within the police station he’s locked up at.
“He’s the eldest among us, siblings. We had so many hopes and desires for his engagement, which was also the first engagement in the family. All of us are heartbroken,” said Yaseen’s relative, while talking to The Kashmiriyat.
Yaseen’s relative told The Kashmiriyat that the family had requested the officials repeatedly, to release him for a day on remand so he could get engaged. “We’d asked the officer to release him for a day and keep his brother in custody for a day until Yaseen gets engaged, but he didn’t consider our request,” the relative added.
Meanwhile, the family of Yaseen’s fiancée had made all the preparations and informed all the relatives about the engagement, which made it difficult for them to postpone it, he added. “Almost 4-5 of us went to the Kothi Bagh police station and requested the authorities to get my brother engaged. They allowed us to perform the ceremony there itself, as they freed Yaseen for fifteen minutes within the jail premises,” said the relative.
“All we were allowed to do was apply Mehandi on his hands. So we inscribed a holy recitation and prayer.”
“None of the women folks from the family were allowed in the police station. It was only us, the male members. 4-5 of us, who were let in,” Yaseen’s brother said to The Kashmiriyat. He said that it looked less of an engagement and more of a mourning. “Nobody even smiled other than him, and back home my mother and other womenfolk spent their time lamenting,” he said.
The family says that Yaseen’s arrest has left them in utter distress and that they’ve been anticipating his release since his detention. He was the eldest brother among the five siblings, which include three sisters and two brothers.
“We have no idea about his release. Nor do we know whether he’ll be granted bail,” said the family member.
Also among these 8 Shia mourners is Muzaffar Hussain Reshi (34), a father of three little kids including a newborn, and a resident of the same area.
“On March 07, they were summoned to a Police Station in Kothi bagh and were taken into detention, the same day. We were informed later that they were booked under UAPA,” Muzaffar’s brother said, while talking to The Kashmiriyat.
He said that Muzaffar is the sole bread earner to his family comprising of him, his wife and the three children. Muzaffar’s newborn daughter ages only a month and a half.
“My brother is not financially stable. His family is suffering in his absence. We applied for his bail some days ago and we are awaiting the court’s decision,” he said.
Arrests of Shia mourners over the past couple years
In August 2020, three youth were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act by the J&K Police after a video, purportedly showing people raising ‘Azadi’ slogans during a Muharram procession on the outskirts of Srinagar, was circulated on social media.
The police said, “There was no history of organising any such unlawful gathering before. Neither was there any input of any gathering/procession nor was there any police presence as the area is far from the main Imam Bara.”
The three were identified as Sajad Hussain Parray, Arif Ahmad Dar and Raja Mehboob.
Towards the end of August 2021, two youth were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for carrying a banner during a Muharram procession that read ‘Oppressed Kashmir.’
The two were identified as 27-year old Maqsood Ahmed Rather and 23-year-old Irfan Ahmad from Sharifabad, Budgam. They were charged for raising the banner during Ashura procession in central Kashmir’s Budgam.
Last year, a prominent Muslim cleric from the Nowlar area of Pattan in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district was detained ahead of the annual Muharram procession on the 10th day of the first month of the Hijri calendar.
Speaking to The Kashmiriyat, one of his relatives had said, “Moulana Manzoor has been detained to prevent him from addressing and leading any Muharram processions. We do not know of any reasons other than that.”
According to the Police, the four have been booked under the Section 13 of Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act, 188/ 269 (Violation of Lockdown),51 DM Act (refusing to comply with official orders). The FIR has been lodged against the four in the Kothi bagh Police station of Srinagar under the serial number 62/2021.
The police also stated that the four were allegedly involved in ‘serious’ crimes as mentioned in the FIR, which has been handed over the families.
“Since the accused are alleged to be involved in the above mentioned offences which are not only serious and grave in nature but are also against the security of the nation/UT, as such, adequate grounds exist for remanding the accused persons to police custody,” the Police told while seeking additional remand of the four in the special NIA court.